Originally posted by Deadman87

Originally posted by Unfinished

AoC's character customization was a big let down for a 'nex gen' title, and certainly nothing to brag about.

 

So when compared to fellow next gen game Warhammer, you consider it a big letdown and nothing to brag about?

Or what were you exactly comparing it against? Some asian mmo that was/has yet to come out?

Compare, comapre, compare .. i think it is possible to judge this feature on it's individual merit alone, the over-all templates types are super narrow.

If you must have something to measure against, City of Heros has a ton more flexibility / variation / individual slider adjustments for Toon customization than AoC. AoC barely went past the depth of the SWG character variables. it's not impressive and had wider parameters in beta ... makes you wonder why they cut that much of it.

BTW I don't get why the AoC Fans keep pointing at Warhammer, isn't it a big mistake to keep comparing themselves to the other huge MMO failure of 2008 when trying to make any kind of case? And last I heard Warhammer kept a lot more of their subs than AoC managed to.

P.S. APB is hardly an Asian Grinder .... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APB_(video_game) , maybe google next time before spouting off. The IP is not my cup of tea, but I am guessing their are more than enough fans to have this title do well.

Originally posted by Deadman87

 

 
The template of each face can be generously modified, but your point stands and it is true.

 

I have seen a lot of players choosing the "pretty female" face and then tweaking it to their liking.
The male characters on the other hand has a much wider variety of faces that are beeing used by players. Perhaps because players are actually trying to get their character to look like themselves, much like I did.

A solution to this "problem" would be that Funcom were to make more pretty female face templates.
 

Also, males have the facial hair option, and females don't get anything that might compare, like a makeup/jewelry option in its place.   I think facial hair on males adds a much wider variety of looks, while hiding the similarity of the faces underneath.  Makeup, in addition to the regular detail options, could do the same for females.  Also, females have less tattoo choices, for some reason.

Re: comparing to WAR - terrible comparison, because WAR is terrible in many ways, not the least of which being character customization.  AOC is ok, and ok is way better than terrible.  I just think it gets a little overhyped, and would like to see a bit more to it.

AoC's character customization isn't close to being the end-all, but it's pretty good to the point that I have a lot of attachment to my character because of it.  I took a screenshot back when I was in Tortage because I couldn't get over the likeness it had to my uncle.  I attempted to make my face as close as possible(long face, certain jaw/chin shape, brow, big nose, sunken eyes, etc), then added some good facial hair to give it more character, and as soon as I did that it suddenly my guy looked like my uncle. 

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/8982/uncle.jpg

I thought it was pretty cool.  It actually makes a lot of sense because all of the guys in my family look a lot alike, their most signifying feature for each one of us is the hair, myself being the only one clean-shaven.  But I digress.

It's fairly easy to get a 'likeness', but it won't be *you* at all. I don't care that much though, seeing as you get to end up with characters that look pretty damned decent and (if you want it) intimidating and masculine.

I was almost disappointed when I didn't see a comparison picture of your uncle, lol

AoC character creation is alright, the main problem is that the slider range is rather minimal that you can't really manipulate some of the more oversized faces into something better proportioned, control is so limited that you can't customize out of the basic facial template. Skin colour is limited, we could definately do with a larger selection and have hair options usable by all races. This is all stuff they can give us easily and would really open character creation up.

Originally posted by Deadman87

It's fairly easy to get a 'likeness', but it won't be *you* at all. I don't care that much though, seeing as you get to end up with characters that look pretty damned decent and (if you want it) intimidating and masculine.

I was almost disappointed when I didn't see a comparison picture of your uncle, lol

It's fairly accurate.  My character's brow is a tad heavy in comparison(I wanted more of a scowl), and he lacks the braids in his beard of course lol, and nobodies eyes in real life are colored so vibrantly.  This particular uncle actually lived out in the bush for a couple years(apparently for vacation my grandparents took many-week long trips into the canadian wilderness in canoes with the family, he just sorta adopted it almost as a lifestyle at one point), and he's actually the most intimidating and masculine guy I know.  Which I'm pretty sure helps significantly in this case, lol.

I tried making a face in Fallout 3 after my own, I spent hours upon hours trying to make it right, but it just never worked, even after modifying the game to have an increased range on the sliders and some other things.  Comparitively, Age of Conan's customization isn't as extensive, however I find it easier to make a "likeness", and I certainly find it easier to make memorable faces full of character(sadly, the voice acting and conversation text in AoC is better than in FO3 too, I haven't gotten over that).  

It's not good to hype up AoC's character creation process as something groundbreaking, because it just is not.  I think it is fair to point out however that it does end up with strong characteristic variety and most of all, it's a lot of fun.

Great shots. I'm trying to picture what they are all thinking.

First guy-top left: I am the Scorpion King...feel my sting!

Next guy:  THIS IS SPARTA!I

Woman with hood: This necklace is starting to hurt

Last guy on top: I AM A KNIGHT!

Guy with Mullet: Duuuuuuuude...business in the front...party in the back

Guy after him: I am Zerksies...god king...SAY HELLO TO MY LI-LE FRIEN...Quazi Moto.

Woman after that: I thought you sang beautifully. It almost made me cry...what do you think Simon?

Man with Tatto face: Mufasassssaaaaaa...

Guy with long beard: How dare you say Hamurabi didn't have style!

Indian Girl: I bring wompum and brandy...GO BUFFULOS!

Redbeard says: I forgot about the stones...  0.o

Next Guy: THEY WILL NEVER TAKE OUT FREDOOOOOOOOOM!

Last row left: I am Achilies...what do you do for a living? I climb up horses butts.

Bald guy after Achilies: RAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW. Playing the bad guy in "I Am Legend" was so fun.

Woman after bald guy: Follow the white rabbit..

Last guy: Do these horns make my butt look big?